Each year on the occasion of his birth, we celebrate the man who is the radiant heart and bright mind behind the services that we offer to the world 365 days a year. On his birthday, we ask our community to join us in supporting and preserving the vitality and reach of Br. David’s legacy: the gift of opening to the opportunity of each moment with a grateful heart…
“We are never more than one grateful thought away from peace of heart.” ~ Br. David
Br. David and Swami Satchidananda enjoy a warm hug.
Br. David is many things to many people, and a dear friend to more of us around the world than is imaginable. Beloved by a wide range of thought-leaders and spiritual teachers across the globe, he is a luminary who is invited to sit at many-a-table to bring his clear voice and big heart to conversations of deep concern. This has been true for more decades than many of us have been alive, and it is no small feat for someone who has worn the mantle of monasticism for almost 70 years and who thrives in the nourishment of contemplation and solitude! In fact, it is exactly his devotion to the cultivation of a deep inner life that has allowed Br. David to bring so much wisdom to how we live out our day-to-day lives.
From a mysticism nurtured inside the Christian tradition, study of Zen Buddhism, and a rich life of belonging to the “outside” world, Br. David has dug deep to the center of Universal longings and metaphysical truths and lifted them up in resonant and accessible ways. The centerpiece of Br. David’s explorations and findings has been, and continues to be, “gratefulness” – an orientation to life that he asserts is at the heart of prayer, contentment, and the very transformation of our individual lives, relationships, and societies.
“Gratefulness is that fullness of life for which we are all thirsting.” ~ Br. David
Br. David at TED in 2013
Equal parts playful, philosophical, psychological, pedagogical, and political, Br David is also prolific. He has written a dozen published books connected to themes of gratefulness since 1984 and continues to write as a daily practice. He also speaks prolifically, contributing richly to contemporary discourse on wide-ranging topics such as interfaith dialogue, mysticism, mindfulness, spirituality, science, ecology and economics. Throughout, Br. David holds an unwavering commitment to “grateful living” as a way of life that can bring much-needed perspective and peace to our global family.
“We belong together in a deep solidarity which the heart discerns.” ~ Br. David
Br. David is an embodiment of generosity. His deep-seated values of inclusivity, equity, love, and open access have shaped all of his offerings to the world, including the wide-open doors of Gratefulness.org. The principles of A Network for Grateful Living – the non-profit organization he founded to carry on the teachings of gratefulness – are rooted in the same wide love and deep consideration that Br. David has brought to his entire life.
“Love ripens ever more abundantly in the autumn sun of life. I now see it as my main task to simply allow this to happen, since ‘we do not die from death, but from fully ripened love.’” ~ Br. David
Please join us in supporting Br. David’s legacy. Make a gift to celebrate him on his 94th birthday this week, and we will send Br. David a card with a beautiful, community-generated “word cloud” with adjectives that come to mind/heart when you think of him, i.e., funny, loving, playful, wise, etc.
Thank You for celebrating the wisdom, curiosity, and radical love that Br. David continues to bring to our lives and world, and for supporting the preservation and continuation of his legacy.
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